The use of an electronic component rack or cabinet for holding a plurality of electronic components, usually in a vertical stack, is well known. Such racks are used in many environments, such as network server farms, telephone switching stations, electronic equipment closets of office buildings containing large amounts of networked electronic equipment, or in countless other environments in which electrical or optical signals need to be switched between numerous electronic components. In such environments, it is not uncommon for a plurality of racks to be tightly packed side by side in a room, with each rack containing a number of vertically stacked electronic components, such as routers, cable trays, data processing equipment, switching equipment, etc. Furthermore, the number of wires and cables that enter and exit the components in the racks can be voluminous, leading to an environment in which it is very difficult to mount and dismount components to and from the racks.
These electronic component racks often comprise little more than a base, four vertical posts and a few horizontal rails running between the posts to hold the structure together. The posts and/or rails may include holes for mating with holes on the components so that bolts can be placed through the mating holes to attach the components to the racks.
Typically, a rack component is installed on a rack by sliding it in a component slot of the rack from the front and then installing bolts through mating holes on the front panel of the component (or on flanges extending laterally from the front panel of the component) and on the front posts of the rack. More specifically, a component can be slid into a slot in the rack until the front panel (or front flanges) butt up against the front posts of the rack. The holes on the panel or flanges align with corresponding holes on the racks and the panels or flanges are bolted to the rack through the mating holes, thereby affixing the component to the rack. In some cases, the components are installed essentially similarly, but are slid in from the rear of the rack toward the front, rather than from the front toward the rear.
However, the components that are mounted in these racks often are sufficiently heavy that they require support toward the rear of the rack as well as the front of the rack. Hence, the components must be bolted (or otherwise attached) to the rack both at their front and at their rear (or at least somewhere else along their lateral sides). Frequently, however, the racks are arranged in such a manner that it is difficult, if not impossible, to gain access to both the front and the rear of the rack and/or sides of the rack. For instance, it is not uncommon for the plurality of racks to be positioned side by side in a long row such that only the front (or only the rear) of the rack is accessible to an installer.
This situation makes it very difficult to access the rear (or front) of the rack in order to bolt a rack component to the rack near the front as well as the rear of the rack.